M
indful
editation
Our Outpost psychologist is a firm believer that meditation and yoga are effective tools that can help students and their families identify, and improve the regulation of, their emotions.
For centuries, people across the world have engaged in meditation to help calm their minds and enhance their overall well-being. This mind-and-body integration technique has been effective in improving emotional and attention regulation.
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“Many clients and families who walk into the therapy room are having difficulty regulating their distressing feelings and/or are concerned about their child and/or another person in their life,” explains Outpost psychologist Jessica Fitzsimmons.
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Worryingly, research suggests that individuals experiencing hearing loss may be more likely to experience anxiety and depressive-related disorders.
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“Regulation strategies may require different techniques, stimuli and content as we navigate life, so it can be helpful to develop a variety of tools and techniques you can draw from at different ages and stages,” she explains.
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“For me, I have always been a sporty and active person, and when life became overwhelming, I found yoga incorporated both the physical and emotional components that I needed. Over the years I have witnessed the benefit of movement-based therapies, relaxation and meditation both in and outside the therapy room.”
Jessica is a firm believer in the power of yoga and obtained a qualification in Yoga Therapy. She even dedicated her psychology dissertation to developing an eight-week yoga program that incorporated breath and meditation components, and measured the results.
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She is hoping that meditation-based podcasts, including her own Mellow Moods podcast, will assist young people and their families at TSH to recognise internal cues and develop emotional regulation skills that may assist them navigate their emotional experiences.
“Students in the TSH Outpost program use hearing devices and often tell me about their love of music, so I think that the podcasting medium could be another tool for them to use.
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“I am aware that many adults engage with podcasts too, and these may assist them to develop their own skills and, when listening together with their children, provide a platform to experience some coregulation.”
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Jessica does not promote yoga as a replacement for medical treatment and/or psychological treatment/support, however she sees it as a tool for wellbeing.
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“The human experience is a joyous, yet complicated one,” she says. “Life, at times, will be challenging and as much as we would like to protect the children in our lives from ever experiencing distress, it is inevitable for all of us that at some point in time they will.
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“Equipping caregivers and children with a varied skillset is a proactive approach. Although it will not eliminate hardship, it may assist a young person to understand difficult experiences, process them and navigate them.”
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